Busy weekend for law enforcement on Lake Lanier

GAINESVILLE - A sunny, warm day usually leads to big crowds on Lake Lanier, and Sunday, those crowds translated into some problems for law enforcement on the lake.

Five citations for boating under the influence (BUI) were issued, a number the Department of Natural Resources said is high for just one day.

In addition, two personal watercraft were involved in a collision leading to citations for both operators, according to DNR spokesman Mark McKinnon.

"We had a couple of personal watercraft run into each other out on Lake Lanier going pretty fast - between 20 and 30 miles an hour each," said McKinnon.

He said miraculously neither operator was injured, but one operator was thrown from his PWC. That operator was not wearing the kill switch for the craft, and that complicated the issue.

"Since he wasn't wearing that [the kill switch], when he fell off of the craft, it kept going in the water in circles," said McKinnon.

McKinnon said Ranger First Class Eric Isom and Hall County Sheriff's Deputy Thomas Hyde witnessed the incident were able to slow the out-of-control PWC and use a long aluminum pole to pull the kill switch.

One driver received a citation for operating a PWC above idle speed within 100-feet of an object in the water and the other received a citation for operating a PWC without having the kill switch attached.

McKinnon said the incident happened around 2:30 p.m. He did not have information on where on the lake the incident occurred.